


sing to me instead

by fricklefracklefloof



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Singing, also yes the title is based off ben platt's album i love him, everyone forgets wylan can sing, hc that jesper can sing pretty good too, i love them, literally just fluff, post CK, soft wesper, wesper, when inej and jesper are living with wylan probably destroying his huge mansion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:07:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21679492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fricklefracklefloof/pseuds/fricklefracklefloof
Summary: Jesper actually has a pretty decent singing voice. Wylan teaches him how to use it.
Relationships: Inej Ghafa & Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey & Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey & Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	sing to me instead

**Author's Note:**

> u h h h h i haven't written a fic or anything in ages so for the last few days of november i sat down and wrote this. for nanowrimo i guess. enjoy! this is my first soc fic  
> ALSO my only musical experience is from piano lessons and musical theatre so if you're actually good at singing and you're reading this i am extremely sorry because i probably got a lot of shit wrong

Wylan was in love with Jesper’s voice.

He’d stated this before, to his own father: Jesper had a very soothing baritone. When he read aloud to him, when he made Wylan blush, when he said things that  _ should not be coming out of his mouth;  _ he adored it.

Jesper took the time out of his day to read the most mundane things aloud to Wylan, but anything sounded good in his voice. And it was especially lovely to know that Jesper would do this - probably the last thing he’d like to be doing - for Wylan. 

Which was why they made sure to take plenty of breaks.

Wylan was sitting at the kitchen table next to Jesper, forgotten cups of coffee left in front of them, their hands interlocked, his head resting softly on the other boy’s shoulder, blinking sleepily, though his mind was racing thoughts and calculations through his head about what he’d just processed from Jesper’s words as he read documents aloud to him. Mindless stuff that he knew Jesper might roll his eyes about, but it was important. Wylan had inherited an empire.

It was a small gesture, what with how wrapped up the two of them already were, but Jesper was fidgeting, his fingers drumming against the documents, rippling from the impact. Wylan could tell this was excruciating for him, and he hated it.

Jesper started to turn the next page when Wylan whispered, “Okay, let’s take a break.”

Jesper nodded, squeezing Wylan’s hand before setting down the documents and releasing him, standing up to stretch. It was like his entire body had loosened and become normal again. He was grinning, and Wylan could tell he was relieved. Jesper was still trying to find ways to use up his tireless energy, though they still hadn’t found a Fabrikator to help him use his powers properly yet. Jesper sometimes trained alone, with small things, trying to remember what his ma had taught him.

Wylan took the cold cups of coffee to the sink as Jesper began to happily hum something, tapping his feet to the beat. The servants could clean up after them, and it wasn’t like Wylan knew how to clean up after himself anyways, but he tried to help when he could without getting in the way. 

Jesper was singing something, some kind of sea shanty or drinking song, Wylan guessed. It sounded catchy and carefree, the kind of song Wylan would have fantasized about singing with his nonexistent friends when he was still learning music here at home. “What is that?”

Jesper stopped. “What? Oh, just an old Kerch drinking song. I learned it one of the first nights I spent in the Barrel.” He honestly sounded pretty good. Wylan tried to imagine what it would sound like with a whole group of people singing it, drunk and happy. It was simple, something easy for someone to pick up and sing with others.

“Sing it again.” Jesper grinned. Wylan had that expression on his face again, that look when he had the idea of  _ something  _ coming to his head suddenly, turning the gears in that crazy little mind of his to try and figure out whether it would work. Jesper and Inej called it Wylan’s own little scheming face, even if he protested.

Jesper started from the top, methodically working himself through the lyrics as Wylan watched intently. Honestly, it was a miracle he still remembered this song now. It was something that just came to his head again out of the blue. He’d practically forgotten it by now, the Barrel slowly moving out of his life.

By the second time he’d sung it, Wylan was practically singing along with him, stumbling a little on the bridges but it was easy for him to catch up again. Jesper supposed it was a fairly easy song to learn.

When he’d finished Wylan was still staring at him with those brilliant blue eyes, something interesting twinkling in them. “Again?” Jesper inquired.

“No,” the merchling replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Come with me.” He grabbed Jesper’s hand and began to drag him out of the kitchen. He stumbled after him - what the hell?

He’d led them to the music room. “What are you-”

Wylan hummed the chorus of same little tune Jesper was singing, releasing his hand to stand in front of the piano. Wylan had sort of lied to him, a while ago when Jesper was teasing him. He could play the piano. Not as well as the flute, but well enough that he could play plenty of songs by ear. 

The merchling plunked several tentative notes on the keyboard, mumbling. “Is that a C? Da, da,  _ da…  _ no, not quite…  _ there we go.” _

It was that stupid drinking song Jesper had taught him. Wylan was trying to  _ play it. _ That adorable little genius.

Then he started testing lower notes. Jesper was not familiar with this. He frowned. “That’s not part of the song.”

“It will be.” He was pressing notes together, playing them at the same time. It didn’t sound bad, but Jesper wasn’t following at all. Wylan was incredibly concentrated, still mumbling to himself. Jesper smirked. He came up from behind Wylan and slammed his hand on the other side of the piano, making an even more awful sound. The merchling practically shrieked.

“Jesper!” he scolded, but he was laughing, and the sharpshooter was too. It was too perfect of an opportunity not to take.

“See, I can play, too.”

“No you can’t.”

“I’ll play  _ you.” _

Wylan stiffened, and Jesper could tell he was blushing, even if he didn’t look up from the piano. “O-okay, um, sing this for me.” He’d changed the subject. Cute.

He played a part of the chorus, singing the lyrics perfectly along with it. But-

“That’s not how the song sounds.”

“That’s because it’s your part.” Wylan was looking at him with such confidence that Jesper actually felt kind of self-conscious.

“My part?”

“Just sing it with me.”

Jesper did, guided by Wylan’s voice and the piano. It didn’t sound bad, but he didn’t understand what he was getting at.

“Okay, you got that?” Wylan asked.

“I think so.” 

“I’m gonna sing it along with you again, but this time I’m going to sing the melody while you harmonize with me.”

What. Was he doing.

Jesper nodded, his heart racing for some reason. He didn’t know anything about music, but Wylan definitely did, and he was fascinated with it. 

This time, though, it was not as easy for Jesper as it was before. Wylan played both parts on the piano, his hands working methodically as he sang, and Jesper realized he was focusing more on the merchling’s singing by the end, as he’d switched back to the original melody.

“That- didn’t work,” Jesper laughed. “Sorry, I don’t think I was ready.”

Wylan nodded. “That’s okay; it’s easy to forget. Let’s try again. Make sure to focus on yourself, not me.”

This time Wylan played only Jesper’s part on the piano as he sang the opposite melody, and it was definitely easier when Jesper followed what he was playing on the piano. 

“That… actually sounded really good,” Jesper breathed, when they were finished. He was a bit hesitant in the beginning, but when he was more confident in his singing his voice complimented Wylan’s nicely.

“Of course it does. I made up the harmonies,” Wylan said smugly. Saints, he was  _ so  _ talented. Jesper was positively convinced he was in love with this boy.

Wylan taught him a few more harmonies that he decided would fit in the song, going slow and playing it clearly on the piano for Jesper to understand. He’d never felt this enthusiastic about music before, but something about Wylan teaching him made him determined to sing it  _ right.  _ He had no idea how refreshing it was to sing with someone and make it sound so  _ good. _

When it seemed like they were done, Wylan said, “Okay, let’s try it from the top.”

“The whole thing?” Jesper asked hopefully. He was ready. He wanted to be ready. Excitement was tingling under his skin.

“Yeah.” He smiled, and Jesper felt his heart catch in his throat. He was singing with  _ this boy. _

“One, two, three, four.”

As he grew more confident with what he was singing, Wylan noticed Jesper’s voice grow  _ loud.  _ He’d always been louder than Wylan, just in general, but this was different. Years of tutoring had taught Wylan to project his normally small, unsure voice into something that could be heard clearly. He knew how to sing from his diaphragm. But for Jesper it just seemed to come naturally.

The two of them hit the chorus, and Wylan noticed Jesper’s voice threatening to overpower his. It was almost as if he was daring him, and when Wylan looked over at the other boy - oh, he was smirking - he definitely was. It was on, then. Jesper may be naturally loud and extroverted, but Wylan had years of experience on his side.

Their voices reached higher and higher, up over the din of the piano and to the ceiling, outside the confines of the music room. Wylan hadn’t had this fun singing in ages. He’d never seen it as competitive, more of a coping mechanism, if he was being completely honest. He’d straightened his back and was standing tall, practically on his tiptoes to try and combat Jesper’s powerful voice. He pulled heaps of air from his stomach and sang  _ at  _ Jesper, daring him to get louder, louder.

Jesper did. They were practically shouting by the end of the song. Wylan was barely able to hear his own thoughts. He thought he might go deaf.

They screamed the last notes of the song together, not caring if there were others in the house, people they might disturb. Wylan slammed a last defining note on the piano before they both devolved into giggles, flopping down on the ground. This was so, so much better than the lessons he’d had with his tutors, lonely hours spent alone with his flute as he hummed songs by himself. He’d always wanted to sing in a choir or group with other boys like him, people who shared that same passion for music. Wylan was just so grateful to be with someone who cared about him.

When they’d finally caught their breaths, laughter dying on their tongues as they gasped for air, Jesper breathed, “That was fucking amazing.”

“Yeah.”

“Merchling activities were never this fun,” Jesper remarked.

And then Wylan  _ beamed.  _ Jesper wanted to hug him. He’d never seen him as happy as he was these past few days spent together, surrounded by people they loved and absolutely  _ nothing  _ to worry about. Jesper wanted to make him look like that all the time. In that moment, he knew he’d die twice just to see that smile, his cheeks folding to accommodate that grin, freckles dancing across his skin, sky blue eyes twinkling.

“Did someone die?”

Wylan and Jesper both jumped and turned to see Inej standing behind them. She could have been there for two seconds or ten minutes, and they would have never noticed.

“Jesus Christ, Inej.”

She smirked. “Were you guys singing?”

“Jesper taught me another song. I taught him to harmonize with me,” Wylan explained.

Inej raised an eyebrow. She looked interested.

“Want to join us? We could use a female voice like yours.”

“Sure.”

So Wylan made up higher harmonies to accommodate Inej’s voice, and they sang loud together, not caring about whether someone could hear them as their voices traveled outside the music room, shouting even when their throats went hoarse and their laughter turned to hiccups and the afternoon sun began to set under the horizon and the chef called them to dinner, not wanting to stop, stop doing this together, and even long after they did they hummed and giggled through their dinner and as they went to sleep.


End file.
